Fantastic film that was wrongly promoted

Rating: 10/10 (12 July 2003)

This is certainly not George Romero's idea of a zombie flick! Nor is it truly a zombie flick... If I had to compare it to anything, the only thing I could compare it to is "Stephen King's The Stand," with less characters. Although the plot makes it sound something like "Twelve Monkeys," it doesn't really fit that mold either. It seems that FOX didn't know how to promote this, so they likened it to zombie flicks and the Exorcist! If that's what you're looking for, find another film in your local listings..... Or if you're so homophobic that you can't stand to see a naked man for a couple minutes, again avoid. Not only was there another comment on the "dong factor," but 3 people walked out mere minutes after the opening scene, where the lead wakes up nude in a hospital bed. Yeah, it was flopping free for a few minutes as he regained consciousness, but it's not like there was a male nurse there performing fellatio on him, so gimme a break....
The premise of the film is truly frightening, more-so because it seems plausible. A virus called "the rage," I believe, is set loose upon society when some well-meaning animal activists break into a testing lab to release some caged monkeys. And 28 days later, the fast-spreading virus has taken over the majority of the population, turning them into zombie-like animals. Our heroes are the few scant survivors who are just fighting to stay alive. But that's not easy in a world turned on its ear....
At times the film does seem slow and overlong, not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but it's called character development -- something that's missing from more movies in recent years than I can count. The performances are all great, and lead to a few real heart-wrenching and gut-wrenching moments. However, there's more scares from the reality of their situation than actual on-screen scares. Not that the film's without, there are a few truly creepy/frightening moments. You don't get too many good looks at the infected, which personally I thought made them that much scarier. Possible minor spoiler: The further you get into this film, the more you think "there's no way this can have a happy ending." But they pull it off, and not in a contrived, completely unrealistic way.
Oh, and also to comment on the gritty look of the film, while many people have complained about that, I personally thought the drab picture quality enhanced the moodiness of the piece. Taking place in post-apocalyptic times, one certainly wouldn't expect bright, vivid colors. The combination of the look of the film and the haunting score enhance it. I couldn't imagine Hollywood taking on a project like this, but if they had, it certainly wouldn't have been as gritty -- which is a pure plus in a film like this.
If you're the type who just likes the gore without having to use your brain, just remember that "Freddy Vs. Jason" comes out later this year!